Gillian Anderson & Rebecca Hall To Star As Illicit Lover & Wife On A Collision Course In Thriller ‘The Portrait’; Rocket Science & WME Launch For AFM
News Source
•Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:01:00 +0000
📰 What Happened
Gillian Anderson and Rebecca Hall will star in the psychological thriller The Portrait. Sara Colangelo, who made The Kindergarten Teacher, will write and direct. Rocket Science and WME are selling it at the American Film Market.
Anderson plays Valeria, a famous writer with a secret lover named Martin. When illness cuts her off from him, she hires his wife, an artist played by Hall, to paint her portrait. The plan lets her get inside his home and family.
🔍 The Backstory
The film is based on a novel by Italian writer Ilaria Bernardini. It is produced by Pie Films, which made The Lost Daughter, and Italy's The Apartment. Both companies specialise in films built around strong female leads.
Anderson is best known for The X-Files and The Crown, and Hall for films including Christine and The Prestige. The American Film Market is where independent films find buyers before they are shot.
🎯 Why It Matters
Two acclaimed actors in a tense two-hander is the kind of film that rarely gets made without a market deal. If it sells well, it reaches cinemas sooner.
Gillian Anderson and Rebecca Hall will star in the psychological thriller The Portrait. Sara Colangelo, who made The Kindergarten Teacher, will write and direct. Rocket Science and WME are selling it at the American Film Market.
Anderson plays Valeria, a famous writer with a secret lover named Martin. When illness cuts her off from him, she hires his wife, an artist played by Hall, to paint her portrait. The plan lets her get inside his home and family.
The film is based on a novel by Italian writer Ilaria Bernardini. It is produced by Pie Films, which made The Lost Daughter, and Italy's The Apartment. Both companies specialise in films built around strong female leads.
Anderson is best known for The X-Files and The Crown, and Hall for films including Christine and The Prestige. The American Film Market is where independent films find buyers before they are shot.
Two acclaimed actors in a tense two-hander is the kind of film that rarely gets made without a market deal. If it sells well, it reaches cinemas sooner.